A key aspect of a horror movie is whether the events which happen during the movie are plausible. Some genre flicks just don’t bother and serve up a cartoonish amount of shabby prosthetics and unrealistic blood, though others attempt to convince the audience that what they’re seeing is the truth. Now, The Blair Witch Project is earning a fresh moment in the sun as the original found footage classic that fooled audiences into thinking it was real.
Over on r/horror, user u/Dank4Days shared a thought-provoking analysis about the 1999 horror, expressing confusion as to why late 90s moviegoers actually believed they were going to watch a film about folks literally dying on camera. In their closing arguments, u/Dank4Days insisted that perhaps people are far too “gullible” for their own good, insisting that an explanation be given for how the movie seemed to trick so many upon its initial release.
As to be expected, the responses immediately poured in, with horror fanatics and traditional film buffs alike expressing their opinions on the subject matter — many of which supported the idea that the internet played a part in the film’s “real” portrayal and the inclusion of brilliant marketing.
It’s worth remembering that without social media word spread much more slowly online about movies:
For some the disclaimer that this is a true story was all they needed:
And yeah, it’s way more fun to believe than go in as a skeptic:
Piggybacking off the use of knockout marketing and its position as one of the earlier found footage films, it’s certainly no surprise that The Blair Witch Project is still considered to be a genre classic and one of the best found footage films of all time. Who knows, with the current trend of remakes and reboots in the horror catalog, perhaps the Blair Witch will make her triumphant return to the big screen once more?
